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Background: Following the spread of COVID-19, the Rhode Island Department of Health delivered its first virtual World Diabetes Day (RIWDD) event. Evaluations exploring advantages and disadvantages of delivering public health events virtually are generally lacking. Purpose: The aims of the present paper were to evaluate the reach, feasibility, and effectiveness of delivering RIWDD virtually. Methods: Quantitative methods were used to: (1) estimate and compare the target population to RIWDD's event reach; and (2) evaluate whether diabetes knowledge increased amongst attendees. Qualitative methods assessed event facilitators' perceptions of the strengths, limitations, and challenges of using a virtual format to inform planning and implementation of future RIWDD events. Results: Results revealed segments of RI's population disproportionately affected by diabetes, including men, persons of color, and older adults were underrepresented at the event. The event was not associated with increases in diabetes knowledge; however, attendees possessed high diabetes knowledge overall. Facilitators identified several important factors associated with virtual delivery in the context of COVID-19. Discussion: Considerations for delivering virtual events are discussed. Translation to Health Education Practice: A key takeaway of this evaluation is the critical need for cultural competency as a guiding framework for professional practice when delivering events virtually.

The article focuses on disparities in tobacco use among individuals with mental distress in Rhode Island. Topics include the prevalence of tobacco use, sociodemographic characteristics, commercial tobacco, not sacred and ceremonial tobacco used by many American Indian communities, and strategies to address tobacco-related health disparities among this population.

Sexual assault and harassment are significant problems that begin early in the lifespan. The current study sought to understand the contextual factors that influence the implementation of school‐wide sexual assault prevention programs in middle schools that focus on fostering community norms change. The Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) is a menu of constructs arranged across 5 domains that assists stakeholders in assessing and identifying site‐specific determinants of successful intervention implementation. In the present study, researchers conducted a series of 10 interviews with middle school stakeholders (i.e., principals, guidance counselors, teachers) to document characteristics inside and outside of the school environment (i.e., cultural norms, relative priority, prior interventions, implementation climate) relevant to the implementation of prevention programming, using the CFIR as a guiding framework for analysis. Whereas schools recognized the importance of implementing violence prevention programming, stakeholders reported several other competing demands (i.e., time, resources) that make it difficult to implement rigorous programming without support from an outside agency/team. Community agencies and research teams hoping to implement violence prevention in middle schools can benefit from using stakeholder interviews grounded in the CFIR model to gain a better awareness of the school‐ and community‐specific factors that are likely to influence successful implementation of violence prevention programs in middle schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research demonstrates that both peer socialization and underage drinking play a significant role in teen dating violence. However, less is known about the lasting effects of these risk factors on boys' ability to form healthy romantic relationships as they get older. The present study examined whether boys who perceived their peers would respect them more for having sex and those who engaged in past year heavy alcohol use would be more likely to perpetrate sexual intimate partner violence (IPV) in young adulthood compared to boys who did not endorse perceived peer approval for sex or report past year heavy drinking. Analyses were conducted using a sample of boys (n = 1,189) from Waves I and III of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health). A logistic regression was conducted to assess the relationship between perceived peer approval to have sex and heavy alcohol use at Wave I and sexual IPV at Wave III, after adjusting for demographic factors and other correlates of sexual IPV at Wave I, including age, race/ethnicity, sexual initiation in adolescence, parental attachment, annual family income, and neighborhood poverty. Boys who believed they would gain peer respect by having sex and boys who reported getting drunk in the last 12 months, regardless of how often, were significantly more likely to report sexual IPV in young adulthood compared to boys who did not endorse either of these factors. Targeting boys' perceived peer norms regarding sexual activity and heavy alcohol use may therefore be especially important for preventing sexual IPV later in life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Confluence Model of Sexual Aggression is a well-established framework for understanding factors that contribute to men's perpetration of sexual aggression against women, highlighting the roles of hostile masculinity, impersonal sex orientation, and exposure to pornography. To date, only one study has applied aspects of the Confluence Model to examine predictors of sexual aggression in adolescent males, and the study did not include pornography exposure as a predictor. The current study evaluates the Confluence Model as a framework for understanding the perpetration of both contact and noncontact sexual aggression in a sample of 935 heterosexual 10th-grade adolescent boys. Composite scores for hostile masculinity and impersonal sex orientation were generated. Nearly all the variables included in the hostile masculinity and impersonal sex constructs were associated with perpetration. Zero-inflated Poisson regression models revealed distinct combinations of salient predictors when the dependent variable was identified as boys' frequency of perpetration, compared with when the dependent variable was defined as any perpetration of sexual aggression. Impersonal sex orientation and violent pornography exposure were associated with perpetrating noncontact sexual aggression in the last 6 months, while violent pornography exposure and the interaction of hostile masculinity and impersonal sex orientation increased the frequency of recent contact sexual aggression. Results suggest that hostile masculinity, impersonal sex orientation, and violent pornography exposure are important factors to address within sexual assault prevention approaches for adolescent boys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study documents disparities in the mental health burden of young adults in Rhode Island during the COVID-19 pandemic as it pertains to essential worker status, sexual orientation, gender identity, and childhood trauma. A cross-sectional web-based survey of young adults aged 18 to 25 years conducted between May and October of 2020 assessed anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms, and thoughts of suicide. In fully adjusted regression models, (n =528 young adults) being an essential worker, a sexual minority, having lower relative SES, and having more adverse childhood experiences were significantly associated with negative mental health outcomes. In models adjusted for individual ACEs, exposure to mental illness in the household, physical violence between adults in the household, emotional abuse, and sexual abuse were independently associated with all three outcomes. Young adults most vulnerable and stigmatized in the community are also those who are most severely affected in terms of mental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sexual minority youth (SMY) are at increased risk for interpersonal violence victimization compared to heterosexual youth. The current study examined how self-reported victimization (i.e., bullying, sexual harassment and dating violence) among middle school youth varied as a function of sexual/romantic attraction as well as gender identity. Cross-sectional data were gathered from students at seven middle schools in New England ( n = 2245). Mean comparisons with post-hoc Tukey tests determined differences in rates of past 6-month and lifetime interpersonal violence victimization by sexual/romantic attraction and the intersection of gender and attraction. As hypothesized, interpersonal violence victimization among middle school youth differed as a function of sexual/romantic attraction as well as gender. To date, most research has focused on older samples, particularly high-school youth and young adults. These data are consistent with these prior studies documenting increased risk for interpersonal violence victimization among youth who indicate same-gender attraction but add to the literature in demonstrating the expansive forms of peer victimization that same-gender-attracted youth already experience by early adolescence. Given that victimization is associated acutely and longitudinally with many deleterious outcomes, including poorer mental health and increased risk for subsequent victimization, greater structural supports are needed for early adolescent SMY.